PRISM+ Aura Review – Cost-Effective and Adorable

Unboxing the PRISM+ Aura

Starting off our PRISM+ Aura review with the unboxing, the air purifier comes in a rather large, white box that is simple in nature. You can see a picture of the air purifier as well as it’s model name, but nothing much apart from that. Inside the box, we found the following items:

• Power cable
• Aura Air Filter (HEPA H13 3-in-1)
• Documentations
• The PRISM+ Aura itself

Specifications

Model Name	Aura
Colour	Alpine White / Space Grey
Power	23W
Input	100-240V
Output	DC 24V 1.2A
Effective Coverage	182 ft²
Dimensions (LxWxH)	225 x 225 x 459mm
Net Weight	2.35 Kg
Gross Weight	2.87 Kg
Filter	HEPA H13 Filtration (Pre-Filter, Medical Grade HEPA Filter and Activated Carbon Filter)
Warranty	1 Year

Performance

With air purifiers, it’s important to know how well and how fast it can help clean air within the environment. As such, we will be doing a test using an insect repellant as the air pollutant and an air quality meter to get a reading.

Controlled Environment

Type	Readings
CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)	558PPM
PM1.0	11µg/m3
PM2.5	14µg/m3
PM10	14µg/m3
HCHO (Formaldehyde)	0.001mg/m3
TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds	0.001mg/m3

This is the reading of the room after turning on the PRISM+ Aura for 1 minute with no disturbances or pollutants introduced. The readings will serve as the baseline of clean air based on its capabilities filter the air by default.

Polluted Environment

Type	Readings
CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)	2079PPM
PM1.0	334µg/m3
PM2.5	1000µg/m3
PM10	1000µg/m3
HCHO (Formaldehyde)	0.295mg/m3
TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds	1.227mg/m3

This is the readings we got with our air quality meter after using the insect repellant. As you can see, it’s pretty bad and usually, it’s not recommended for people to breathe in the air after spraying insect repellant as it’s a health hazard.

Test

For the test, we will be seeing how clean the air is after 5 minutes, with and without the air purifier to see how well it performs.

Without air purifier:

Type	Readings
CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)	657PPM
PM1.0	25µg/m3
PM2.5	34µg/m3
PM10	67µg/m3
HCHO (Formaldehyde)	0.040mg/m3
TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds	0.375mg/m3

With PRISM+ Aura:

Type	Readings
CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)	696PPM
PM1.0	9µg/m3
PM2.5	14µg/m3
PM10	15µg/m3
HCHO (Formaldehyde)	0.001mg/m3
TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds	0.001mg/m3

After 5 minutes, the particulate matter from 1.0 to 10 along with HCHO and TVOC figures are still noticeably higher compared to our clean controlled environment figures. Granted our air quality meter had its reading go from Dangerous to Poor, it’s not exactly healthy levels. With the PRISM+ Aura however, the figures are practically the same as the controlled environment, with the overall air quality showing green for “Good”. In other words, this air purifier does bring improved air quality and at a faster rate, proving that it indeed works.

Looking for a new TV but don’t want to splurge for one? Check out our PRISM+ Q55 Ultra review by clicking right here.

The Good

There are a number of good reasons to consider getting the PRISM+ Aura. For starters, it is easy to setup when even everything is going right. All you need to do is plug it in to a power source, touch the power button, hold the button between the two “eyes” until you hear two beeps, and use the PRISM+ Connect app to link it. Installing the filter into the unit is a straightforward process as well as you just need to untwist the bottom part, put it in, and twist the cover back into place. That’s really all there is to it.

To my surprise, the PRISM+ Aura can produce pretty strong winds. Honestly, it could do well as a fan if it wasn’t for the fact that the air will directed upwards, but that is designed intentionally in order to help spread clean air as uniformly as possible in the room. One thing’s for sure, it will help to circulate air in any room pretty well if you need it to, though that means you will be running it on High for that. Otherwise, just stick to Medium or Auto for the most part.

One aspect that will certainly attract a lot of eyes is how adorable it looks when it’s powered on. The black LED interface has eyes which serve as an indicator of the air quality in the room but looking at it on its own, it reminds me of futuristic droids you’d see in the Pixar movie WALL-E. It’s interesting how two eyes could add so much flair to its looks.

Lastly, and this will be a major factor in driving a lot of consumers to adopt one, is the price. It is currently on sale for RM429 but the best part about it is that replacement air filters, which tends to be the biggest ownership cost for most air filters over time, is priced at RM99 each. It’s a good quality filter too given that it’s a HEPA H13 Filter (3-in-1) consisting of

• Pre-Filter
  • Captures larger particles such as hair, dust, lint and pet dander, preventing the accumulation of dirt in your home.
• Medical-grade HEPA H13
  • Eliminates 99.97% of airborne contaminants, bacteria, viruses, and even allergens such as dust mites and pollen to ensure fresher air.
• Activated Carbon
  • Neutralises airborne pollutants that may cause unpleasant odours. It also absorbs formaldehyde, a carcinogen found in some flooring, wall paints, and furniture.

The Bad

Of course, there are drawbacks to consider as well with the PRISM+ Aura. For starters, I had some trouble at first with the initial setup using an iPhone. I followed the instructions exactly as it was given to me but it just didn’t detect the air purifier at all. Then I used an Android phone and it connected perfectly fine within seconds without restarting the setup process. After that, it suddenly decided to work on my iPhone. Keep in mind that both devices were on the same 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and I opted not to use 5GHz to ensure better reach in the house.

Next up, this air purifier is very much app-dependent as there is only a single button to use (two if you count the power button that becomes out of reach when it’s activated). This means that if you somehow can’t connect to it with your smartphone via PRISM+ Connect, it will just be stuck running on Auto, which isn’t all that bad but sometimes you’d want a bit more control or have it constantly on in certain situations like someone smoking in the room for example.

Another reason why you’d want more control at times is that on High, it gets rather noisy. Sure, the air flow is great in this mode and it can help clean up the air faster but if this is being placed in a bedroom and you want clean air consistently throughout the night without any interruptions for your sleep, you’d definitely want it to be on Low or Medium at worst. On Auto, it might just end up being a surprise alarm at random points in the night, which isn’t great.

Lastly, while it does have support for Android and iOS, it lacks the support for HUAWEI devices. Sure, the existing HarmonyOS is still Android-based and is capable on installing any Android apps but the PRISM+ Connect app requires GMS (Google Mobile Services) to work properly. If you install and try it anyway, the app will give you the warning that it needs GMS to function. Hopefully we’ll see the app pop up in an official capacity for HUAWEI devices somewhere down the road, especially when they have moved to HarmonyOS NEXT.

PRISM+ Aura Verdict

When it works, the PRISM+ Aura is meant to be an easy, cost-effective air purifier for any household. I’m also certain that some of the issues we faced might be exclusive to our unit as we’ve asked around and seems like most people have no issues with the initial setup. One thing we can say for sure is that when it works, it works great and it looks good to boot.

At the end of our PRISM+ Aura review, I award this air purifier with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to PRISM+ for sending us this air purifier for the purpose of this review.